


Broken Trail

by Capucine



Category: Broken Trail (TV), Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, F/M, Forced Prostitution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-02-07 09:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1894296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the nineteenth century in the wild west of America. Lawlessness flourishes in some parts of the land, and one of these vices is prostitution. With a very high men-to-women ratio, it's no surprise that there is a demand for women. At the same time, in China, things are very bad for the poor and nearly poor. These two things meet in the trade of women from China for money from America.</p><p>Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams are cousins who intend to drive a herd of horses to sell. They've sunk everything into this drive. They don't need a distraction or a catastrophe.</p><p>Chun-Yan, Ya-Wen, Hua-Dai, Ying-Tai, and Mei-Ling are girls sold into prostitution by their families. They're about to change Alfred and Matthew's plans-- for better or worse.</p><p>Broken Trail/Hetalia fusion. No graphic rape, but plenty of mentions and allusions to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Names:
> 
> Alfred = America  
> Matthew = Canada  
> Daniel = Molossia
> 
> Chun-Yan = China  
> Ya-Wen = Fujian  
> Hua-Dai = Hong Kong  
> Ying-Tai = Macau  
> Mei-Ling = Taiwan
> 
> Arthur = England  
> Ivan = Russia  
> Saliha = Turkey  
> Adalheid = Switzerland

It was the dimmest of rooms, smelling like human bodies and darkness. Chinese girls were crowded into every corner, washed and inspected to make sure they were virgins.

Chun-Yan clutched her clothing about her. She stood off to the side, a few inches taller than many of the girls there; it made sense because she was a full twenty years old, and so many of the girls there were just that, girls. Some of them couldn't have been older than fourteen.

A white man with a crooked hat and thick eyebrows gestured towards her, saying some of his English babble. He took his cane and pushed away Chun-Yan's top, exposing her breasts. At first, she fought him, but the older Chinese woman in charge caught her hands. The white man stared openly, a leer on his face. He nodded, and then gestured towards another girl: Hua-Dai, if their short communication was correct. She hobbled forward, and the white man asked a question with his dark voice, gesturing towards her feet.

They were bound. It was something that Chun-Yan felt simultaneously jealous of and sorry for; how was she supposed to be a servant if she had to hobble everywhere? Her family may have made her feet beautiful, but it had come back as a curse in the end.

Three more girls were chosen, Ya-Wen, Ying-Tai, and Mei-Ling. Chun-Yan felt like the mother, despite never having had children. She grabbed Hua-Dai's hand, and they shuffled along behind the man with the unkempt hair and those thick brows.

Then it was into a wagon, crowded in the back like barrels. 

\----

It was a long day for Matthew. It was the day when the calves had to be castrated and branded; one after another after another, with the sizzling noise of the brand against the flesh of the calves. The sound of them mooing in alarm and pain was one he'd gotten used to; there was no place for an especially soft heart on a ranch, only the attitude to get work done.

"Mr. Williams?" It was said with sarcasm, or at least light mocking, and Matthew looked up to see Alfred leaning over the fence. He frowned at the irrepressible blonde, saying,

"Is there something you wanted, Al?"

In his hand, Alfred had a letter. He shoved his thumbs in the pockets of his pants, and said, "Well, I wouldn't come all this way if it weren't something important, would I?"

Matthew sighed, coming away from the branding going on, and leaned on the fence. He'd see just what Alfred had to tell him. "So? What is it?"

At that, Alfred's face got a bit more serious. He touched the brim of his hat, but didn't take it off. He sighed, saying, "You'll have heard by now that your mother passed on?"

"No, I didn't," Matthew said. He considered what this meant; he knew his mother had been the last owner of the ranch back home. He also knew he was not welcome back there. "What? Did she leave me something?" He doubted it.

"No," Alfred admitted, and he seemed a bit hesitant now, saying, "She left it to me. I believe she meant for me to share it with you..."

"I doubt that," Matthew said stiffly, brushing the dirt off his pants. "Last I heard, she said that since I don't care for the family, I am freed from responsibilities to the ranch and I may go find my own opportunities. At least, that's what her last letter said."

Alfred winced. "I see. Well, I came to see you about another matter; I've purchased a herd of horses I want to drive from here to the Wyoming; can get a good deal for them there. And I was thinking, if you'd like 25%, you can join me."

"No thanks," Matthew said, turning away to head back. He'd had enough of family for now.

"What, you're going to cut the nuts off of another man's herd of cattle for the rest of your life? This is your opportunity, Matthew," Alfred said, and he was using that tone that always seemed to make a lot of sense to Matthew.

Did he really want to be a hand for the rest of his life? Matthew wasn't sure. He thought for a moment, weighing things out. If he knew Alfred, it was a good size herd... 25% of that could be enough to buy his own small ranch.

It didn't take him long to change his mind. "Fine. When do we leave?"

Alfred grinned, and said, "Tomorrow! Get up bright and early, and meet me at the edge of this pasture, understand?"

"I understand." Matthew took off his hat and swiped his brow.

He had no idea that this journey would change his lot forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Matthew got there just in time to see Alfred thanking the hands for helping him herd the horses to this point. It was a dewy morning, and there was something refreshing about the cool morning air. Matthew's horse trotted over to Alfred's side. "This the herd?"

Alfred grinned, saying, "Aren't they all beautiful?" He cleared his throat shortly after, adding, "Get us a pretty penny."

"So... it's the two of us?" Matthew wasn't sure if he felt this was a good thing or not. Less people meant less ways to split the money, but it also meant if something went wrong it would be just the two of them and about a hundred horses.

"Yep," Alfred said, watching the hands go off. He adjusted his hat, and said, "Well, we'd best be going."

Matthew nodded, and they started off.

\----

"He must be rich, to need five servants," Ya-Wen said, a remarkably sleepy-looking girl. She didn't sound too certain, which made sense because this thick-browed man looked anything but rich.

Mei-Ling shook her head, saying, "He can't be rich. Look at his tattered clothes; he smells like gin."

Ying-Tai, a rather tall girl, said rather uncertainly, "I fear we are not servants."

Chun-Yan processed this bit of information, and simply stated, "We have been sold by our families. We have no say in what way we are put to work."

Hua-Dai leaned closer, easily the youngest out of the lot of them. She said quietly, "He looks like a bad man."

The thick-browed man turned around in the bench-seat of the wagon, snapping something that sounded like their talking very much irritated him. He took off his hat, muttering to himself about something or other-- it was every bit as foreign to them as speaking in some sort of African language.

They stayed quiet, as they were expected to.

\---

As they reached midday, Matthew caught up with Alfred, saying, "The horses need to stop for water."

"Agreed," Alfred said, and they stopped by the river.

It was a bit of a silence, and Matthew said, finally, "Why invite me along?"

"Cause you're a good cowboy," Alfred said, splashing his face with the water. "Besides, if you can't trust family, who can you trust?"

Matthew didn't say anything, though he did consider how valuable family had been to him in the past. In truth, he mostly got on without family; Alfred, his cousin, showing up in his life again was strange. But obviously this was a good job, and he had no reason to leave it.

Alfred slapped his shoulder, and gave him one of those cheery smiles. "Don't think on it too long. Thinking never did suit you that much anyhow."

They took off shortly after.

\----

It was dark, no sounds of humans around for miles. Hua-Dai clung to Chun-Yan; all five of them were clustered together like some terrible American animal might harm them. However, the American animal they feared the most was the man with the thick eyebrows, across the fire from them and ranting at them as he drank out of a bottle.

He kept laughing every time they flinched.

He'd quiet down a bit, and then get back up to roaring speed as he drank heavily. There was no doubt it was alcohol, and there was no doubt there was danger.

It always seemed to anger him when they spoke, so they didn't speak.

Hua-Dai was sure by now that things were not right.

She was even more sure when he pulled Ying-Tai to his side and began petting her.

\----

As they encountered the town, Matthew volunteered to go in for supplies.

He'd gotten bacon, flour, and everything they would need to keep going. Alfred had warned him not to get too much whiskey, but it turned out the general store didn't have any. So he headed over to the saloon.

The sound of a fiddle entered his ears, and he allowed himself a slight smile as he spotted the young man playing it. He had black hair, a leather coat, and a smart straw hat on his head.

"A gallon of whiskey, please," he said to the barkeep, who obliged.

As he took a cup of the drink, however, the bartender came out from behind the bar, approaching the fiddler. "Hey, you. Stop that, no one wants to hear your playing."

"Sir, a man's got to eat," the young man said, protesting.

"Let him stay," Matthew said, on impulse. He hated to see people get pushed around, and there was clearly no harm being done by this young man.

"And who are you?" the barkeep demanded, as the young man nodded his head towards him in thanks.

"Just a man who likes fiddle playing," Matthew said coolly, eyeing the barkeep like he was some irritating, yapping dog.

"Well, then you can get the hell out too!" The barkeep came after him, clearly intending to grab his arm and drag him out. But Matthew reacted quickly, slamming his face with his cup; the barkeep went down with barely a sound.

"You want a drink? He's paying," Matthew said, gesturing to the unconscious barkeep.

The young fiddler nodded a bit shyly, coming. "Don't mind if I do," he said, adding, "I'm Daniel, by the way."

"Matthew," Matthew returned.

It only seemed to surprise Alfred a little bit when he came back with Daniel as their third cowboy.


	3. Chapter 3

The cart rattling along in the midst of the herd was not a surprise; as lonely as the West could be, there were always more travelers to be found.

Matthew brought his horse alongside the cart, just as Alfred rode his horse to the other side. A thick-browed man with bad teeth was sitting on the wagon, and he smiled at them.

"Good morning," Matthew said, eyeing the man with a wary eye.

"Off to church?" Alfred asked, looking in the back of the cart. Five Chinese girls sat, watching them with eyes full of uncertainty; it was clear they didn't understand the language at all.

The thick-browed man laughed, saying, "Captain Arthur Kirkland, at your service. And church is the farthest place from where we're going; you see, I bought these exotic virgins at great price, and I'm taking them over to the mining town, where the men'll pay top dollar to be the first to deflower them."

He had this look on his face that, had it ever directed against a woman Matthew cared out, would have made him pump him full of lead. Just the thought of what would happen to the girls made his stomach turn-- a bit. He knew life out in the West was hard, but he also knew it could be even harder on the women.

"I see," was what Alfred said, though there was that slight look of disgust in his eyes.

Arthur let out another laugh. "Since we're headed the same way, we should go together, don't you think?"

"I don't see why not," Alfred said, without waiting for a reply from Matthew or Daniel, who was not too far behind.

"Excellent." Arthur chanced one glance back, adding, "That cackling is driving me mad!"

Alfred didn't reply, so Matthew didn't either, as they left the sides of the cart to drive the herd.

\----

Captain Arthur Kirkland turned out to be a rowdy man. He joined them for dinner, leaving his 'exotic virgins' by their cart, huddled together.

As the men sat around the fire, he had plenty to cackle about.

"What a man does drunk, he pays for sober. Words to live by, aren't they?"

"Can't help but agree," Alfred said, eating his food. It was relatively silent on their side of the fire, as Kirkland grinned that sleazy grin and went on.

"Well, I'll tell you; I've got myself a bit of a pickle." He gestured towards the girls, making them flinch back. "You see, I'm supposed to deliver all virgins to this mining camp, but I've gone and deflowered one of them. Now, that cuts down on her value, and I was hoping you fellows might want to help me out a bit: one dollar each to have a go with the almost virgin."

Daniel said quietly, first, "I'll pass."

Alfred looked like he was biting his cheek. He said, "That's a pass from me too."

Matthew just stared across the fire stonily at Kirkland, and his point was made.

But Captain Arthur Kirkland just cackled. "All right, all right, I don't get it either. It must be a really specific taste, because I don't know about you fellows, but I prefer a girl that knows what the hell she's doing!"

He seemed to finally realize the critical stares coming across at him. He let out a nervous laugh, and then turned to the girls, yelling, "Get the bottle! Get it!" He gestured vigorously towards the cart.

One of the girls got to her feet, and started to get into the cart. This only caused Kirkland to snap, "Not you! Her! Her! Not you!"

The tiniest girl, clearly still a child in her own right, hobbled to her feet. The older one gripped her, helping her up and muttering to her in Chinese. As soon as she had the bottle, she came in stuttering steps towards them.

"Good lord, what's wrong with her feet?" Daniel asked, looking concerned. He seemed almost as though he might blame Kirkland himself.

That grin returned to Kirkland's face, as he took the bottle from the girl and sent her stumbling back. "In China, they break a little girl's toes, and then bend her feet under and wrap them up as tight as they can."

"Why would they do that?" Daniel looked distressed.

"It gives a bigger sex appeal to the men," Kirkland said, adding, "Now, how about something to drink?"

Matthew couldn't deny he would like something to drink, and so he held out his cup for some from the bottle. Kirkland poured them all a cup, and they drank.

"Can you play that fiddle?" Kirkland said, eyeing Daniel's instrument.

"I do." Daniel sipped the last of his glass, a frown in the corners of his mouth.

"Well, I would love a good tune-- I used to be quite the dancer," Arthur said with a smile.

"I don't feel like it." 

"Well, just a short jig? I did love to dance."

"No, sir." Daniel looked down into his cup.

Arthur just laughed, and said, "Then it's good night."

They all settled down for bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV change, but I hope you all like it.
> 
> One = Taiwan  
> Two = Fujian  
> Three = China  
> Four = Macau  
> Five = Hong Kong

The sun was very bright. When Alfred blinked open his eyes, he wasn't sure if it was even still morning; it definitely wasn't the usual rising at the crack of dawn. His mouth tasted like cotton, and he felt like his brain was oozing out of his ears.

"That bastard! That no good bastard!" Matthew was already awake, and Daniel was just coming to.

"My money belt's gone," Alfred said, realizing the situation all too fast. As he looked around, he realized the cart was still there, and four of the girls were huddled up against it.

"That dirty bastard drugged us! It must have been in the whiskey!" Matthew said, and he took some large steps towards the girls. "Where's our money?"

They screamed, huddling closer together.

"I think they're the last people who would know," Alfred said, putting his hat on his head. He was not what you'd call a firebrand; excitable, yes, but all the years working as a cowboy and working the ranch had helped to even out his temperament. He felt a great anger in his chest, frustration that the money was gone and so was Captain Arthur Kirkland, but it never even occurred to him to get mad at the girls.

"I'm finding that bastard," Matthew said, reaching under his sleeping mat for his gun belt.

"Are you sure? Bastard might shoot you first," Alfred said, even though it was his first instinct to get the bastard too. However, he'd always had this strange ability to freak out over the small things, but when a true calamity came, he was as smooth as an undisturbed pond.

Matthew leapt up onto his horse, saying, "I'm sure."

He rode off, and Alfred could only hope that things went as they were supposed to.

In the meantime, he approached the girls, holding out his hands in front of him. Immediately, the oldest looking one began shouting something at him, repeating herself again and again.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I swear, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, squatting down to their level.

The oldest one quieted down, still holding the younger girls closely. They watched him like one might watch a dog whose friendliness was unknown.

"Okay," Alfred said, pointing to the first one. She had a curly strand of hair that seemed to separate from the rest of her hair; her hair hung past her shoulders. "You're One. Say One."

One looked confused, but Alfred tried again, holding up one finger. "One. One."

"One," One said uncertainly.

"Now, you're number two. Say two," Alfred said, pointing to the second one, who had adorably sleepy eyes. Both her and One said, "Two."

"No, just you. You're number one, and you're number two," Alfred clarified, and at that, a knowing look came on in the oldest's eyes. She said something to the others.

"Three," he said, pointing to her, and she readily replied, "Three. Three."

He held four fingers next, gesturing to littlest one with the bad feet. "Four. You'll be number four."

Abruptly, she began to argue with him, protesting being given that name. She shook her head repeatedly.

"She doesn't want to be number four?" Alfred asked, a bit confused. He shrugged though, and pointed to her again, this holding up five fingers. "Okay, you can be Five. Five."

"Five," she said in her soft little voice.

"Your sister will just be number Four when she gets back."

\----

Ying Tai felt like death had crept into her bones; she sat, none too far away from the man who seemed to think she was his personal whore. She didn't dare leave, and any thoughts of using his gun against him while he slept off his drunkenness were hopeless. She shivered, clutching her clothes around her.

That was when she heard it: hoof-steps.

She could see one of the men from the night before, pistol in hand as he came up towards them.

Despite feeling like Death had kissed her on the lips, Ying Tai scrambled back, a renewed need to live causing her to duck behind a tree. She stayed utterly silent, watching the man with a cautious air.

The man slid off of his horse, and crept up to the bad man's sleeping form. He held a gun to his head, saying something.

It was the first time Ying Tai had ever seen anything hung from a tree.

\----

Matthew came back with the Chinese girl on his horse; he'd taken Captain Arthur Kirkland's coat and given it to her. She was not used to horse riding, clearly, but as he came back to the campsite, the other girls came running over.

"Ying Tai! Ying Tai!" they repeated, immediately taking her into a sort of group hug with her at the center as she got off the horse.

Matthew came over towards Alfred, who was sitting by the firepit. "I got our money back."

Alfred took the money belt from him. "Was he sober?"

"What?" It seemed like a weird question to ask.

"Well, he did say that what a man does drunk, he pays for sober. So, was he sober?"

Matthew shrugged. "I guess. I had to leave a good length of rope back there, though."

"Shame," Alfred said, shaking his head. "Men like that aren't worth the food they eat, much less a good length of rope."

"So, what are we doing about the girls?" Matthew asked, as they came over and sat by the fire with the girl he'd rescued.

"Well..." Alfred said, "Let me introduce to One, Two, Three, Four, and Five." He pointed to each one as he said their number. Then he said, "Girls, this here is Matt. Matt."

"Matt," they all said.

Matthew sighed, saying, "So you're starting a finishing school for Chinese girls? What do they even call you?"

Alfred grinned, and gestured towards himself. "Who am I? Who am I?"

"Honkle Fred," came the response from all of them.

"Uncle Fred?" Matthew wasn't too enthusiastic about taking them with him. But it seemed that Alfred had made up his mind already. "Well, we'd better get going. We lost a lot of daylight."

"We have a few things to do before we go." Alfred stood, stretching out his legs.


	5. Chapter 5

Chun-Yan gripped the reins for the mules pulling the cart. Alfred (for she had already deduced that it was his given name, since that was what the similar looking one, Matt, called him) had been showing her how to use them, and now it was time for her to see if she could indeed do it. Never, coming from her humble background, had she driven a cart. But now, she did as he showed her; the mules started forward, the cart shaking no more than it had before, when the bad man had driven it. She grinned, laughing a little as she looked over at Alfred; there was a smile across his face.

She called out to the other girls, "Look at this! I'm driving a cart!" They were a lot less confident about the whole thing thing than her, though Hua-Dai did say,

"You are a good driver."

Alfred was still talking, but she had no clue what he was saying. She'd already picked up that he tended to talk a lot, but when she was doing something wrong, his callused hands would grab hers and redirect her.

He patted her on the shoulder. She was a little startled at the contact, but she still kept the smile on her face. Alfred slid off the cart, and headed for his horse. He made gestures, surely saying, 'Follow the herd.'

Chun-Yan nodded. She couldn't help but think this was a great turn for the better.

As soon as Alfred was gone, Ya-Wen spoke up. "What if they are as bad masters as the thick-eyebrows man? What will happen to us now?"

It took some concentration to keep the cart going in the right direction, but Chun-Yan called back, "There is no need to worry; these are good men, I can tell."

"Even though they are foreign devils?" Ying-Tai said, and there was something about her tone that unsettled Chun-Yan. 

She tried not to think on it. "Even though they are strange, I think they will keep us safe."

Mei-Ling piped up, "I like the quiet one; he has beautifully colored eyes."

Chun-Yan smiled to herself. She personally had considered the drunken master's green eyes horrific, so pale and devil like; there was something so warm about Alfred's pale blue, though, a warmth she had never expected to find in a foreign devil's eyes.

In any case, it would be much better to serve Alfred than the drunken master. She kept the mules going straight.

\----

"Alfred," Matthew said, catching up with Alfred and trusting Daniel to keep things in order, "What are we supposed to do with five Chinese girls? They don't even speak English."

Alfred laughed, then the grin slipped from his face. "Oh, you're serious."

"Of course I'm serious; aren't you worried about getting there before the snow?" Matthew said, earnestly. He wasn't eager to be caught in the snow with a herd of horses.

"Well, we'll just have to see. Couldn't just leave them in the middle of nowhere, could I?" Alfred said, adjusting his hat.

It wasn't a solid answer, and that bothered Matthew. However, he had to agree that they couldn't just leave them; but what to do with them? They couldn't ride horses, and they couldn't even communicate very well with them. Were they just supposed to look for a Chinatown? Matthew knew there weren't really any in this area, this space between Oregon and Wyoming. The girls had undoubtedly come from California, where they were more likely to encounter a Chinatown, but there was no way they could turn around and go there.

"Yeah," Matthew finally said, and he split from Alfred's side. He knew they had enough money on them to feed them all; that was not a problem. 

He glanced back at the girls, and sighed. They would figure it out. Alfred might not be the best planner, but Matthew would figure out what to do with them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred = America  
> Matthew = Canada  
> Daniel = Molossia
> 
> Chun-Yan = China  
> Ya-Wen = Fujian  
> Hua-Dai = Hong Kong  
> Ying-Tai = Macau  
> Mei-Ling = Taiwan
> 
> Arthur = England  
> Ivan = Russia  
> Saliha = Turkey  
> Adalheid = Switzerland
> 
> \----
> 
> One = Taiwan  
> Two = Fujian  
> Three = China  
> Four = Macau  
> Five = Hong Kong

Alfred had found pretty quickly that the girls did not particularly like their food. He had a mess of beans, and he tried to spoon it into tin plates for them, but they just smiled and gently pushed it away. He'd gathered by now that they didn't just smile when they were happy, but also when they were nervous.

Daniel seemed as concerned as he was. “If they won't eat beans, what are they going to eat?”

Matthew pointed out, “They're going to get hungry eventually; maybe we should wait until then.”

“Nah. I got this handled,” Alfred said, his plan coming up in his mind. He ripped the biscuits he'd baked (a messy almost-circle shape) in half, and then covered the less crusty side with jam. He offered it to Three, since she was the most adventurous one, and she took it from him.

The other girls watched her as she took a bite. She smiled, but this time not the nervous smile, and took another bite.

Alfred grinned. “We've been fishing with the wrong bait, gentlemen.” He handed one to One, Four, and Five, and then looked about.

“Has anyone seen Two?” The sleepy-eyed girl was a sweetheart, usually curling up next to the smallest one, Five, and holding her hand when they slept. The girls all slept in the wagon.

The Chinese girls looked at him with a lack of understanding, but Daniel said, slowly, “I haven't seen her. Not all day, now that I think about it.”

Alfred was quick to head towards the wagon, with the niggling worry that he had somehow left Two behind. But what he found was worse than being left behind.

Two lay in the wagon, covered in sweat and eyes shut. She hadn't gotten up that morning, and she must have progressed quickly for her sisters not to notice. Alfred climbed into the wagon, feeling her forehead; she was burning up.

“Matt,” he said, lifting her upper body into his lap, “Get in here, now.”

Matthew joined him, and his face froze in horror when he saw Two. He shook it off quickly, and climbed into the wagon as well, saying, “What do you need me to do?”

“She's got tick fever; probably got bit sometime before she came to us,” Alfred said grimly. “We need to cool her off.”

She was shaking, and still her eyes did not come open.

By now, the other girls were crowding around the back of the wagon, murmuring to each other in quiet tones. They seemed unsure of what to make of the whole thing, and occasionally tried to reach their sister by saying what must have been her name.

They were up all night with Two.

The fever never broke-- but Two did.

\----

Hua-Dai clutched Chun-Yan's hand tightly, watching as the men put the final rocks over Ya-Wen. Her eyes burned with tears, trying not to shed them. Even in a different land, weeping aloud was losing face.

Chun-Yan's fingers were warm, and Hua-Dai could see that Chun-Yan had her own unshed tears, but she bravely kept her face from crinkling up in sorrow. This wasn't what any of them expected, coming to this country; they were supposed to be servants, in good households that would feed and clothe them.

The worst part was that they didn't even know what had killed Ya-Wen. Hua-Dai could feel a chill through her, and she wondered if she had the same thing, and would die soon.

Ying-Tai was remarkably calm, but she seemed fixated on the grave. Her eyes wouldn't go off it, not to look at her fellow girls, and not to look at Honkle Fred, who solemnly said a few words.

For some reason, they'd put a cross over her grave. Hua-Dai did not know much about the world, but she knew enough to know that Ya-Wen was not one of the people who was supposed to have such a thing over her grave; then again, as a poor girl, she would not have gotten much in the way of a burial, so Hua-Dai thanked Honkle Fred and Matt for it in her head. She could not communicate it to them, but she bowed her head to them, as they put back on their strange hats and turned to the girls.

“One,” Honkle Fred said to Mei-Ling, and he pointed to the grave. Mei-Ling, having been supplied with flowers by Dan, put them on top, and that was the end of the burial.

They headed back to the cart, heavy in heart and saddened in mind. Hua-Dai curled up against Chun-Yan in the middle of the night, as they were supposed to sleep, and silently cried into her thick-cloth clothes.

Were they next? Would their remains be in a strange land far from home?

Hua-Dai didn't know. She trusted Honkle Fred, Matt, and Dan, but if they couldn't protect Ya-Wen from whatever disease, she didn't know if they could save her.

She was somewhat comforted by the night sounds: crickets, rustling grass, and the whistling snore of Honkle Fred.

She just wished her family had been able to keep her and still have the money.


End file.
